China’s largest oil and gas group PetroChina plans to operate its three receiving terminals at full rates and boost purchases from the spot market to meet a demand spike in winter, according to a report on an official government website on Thursday.

For the first eight months of 2018, PetroChina’s gas imports via central Asian pipeline, with supplies primarily sourced from Turkmenistan, reached 33.9 billion cubic metres (bcm), equivalent to 66 percent of the annual plan, according to the report on www.sasac.gov.c www.sasac.gov.cn.

Pipeline gas imports from Myanmar amounted to 3 bcm, or 59 percent of the annual plan for the January to August period.

Its Jiangsu terminal aims to supply 3.3 bcm gas via pipeline and Tangshan terminal 4.1 bcm during the winter period between November and March, said the report, without giving details on its third terminal in Dalian.

The state energy giant has also stepped up winter drilling at domestic fields such as Tarim, Changqing and Sichuan. Its largest gas field will pump at a record 38 bcm for this year.

PetroChina makes up 70 percent of the country’s total output.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)